October 2018 - Glorious October

​Season of mists and mellow fruitfulness,
Close bosom-friend of the maturing sun;
Conspiring with him how to load and bless
With fruit the vines that round the thatch-eves run;
To bend with apples the mossed cottage-trees,
And fill all fruit with ripeness to the core…
                        From “To Autumn” by John Keats, 1819

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No matter where you live, October is a beautiful month. If you live in the far north, October mornings may bring frost on the ground, bits of ice around the bird bath, and even a powdering of snow. In California, where summer lasts for six months without a drop of rain, and the entire landscape turns brown and smoky from wildfires, the first rain may arrive by Halloween. There is joy in October’s first rain, washing the ancient oaks, bringing the azaleas to life and giving piles of acorns to the squirrels and the jays. 

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An owl hoots through the
Long night after rain. A breeze
Ruffles the redwoods.

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​Here in Hawaii, the seasonal changes are subtle. When October arrives, temperatures may fall into the seventies from twilight to dawn, and the hurricane season comes to an end. The tides and the winds shift, but the rain and the warm days continue. I wrote all three of the haiku below in October in Hawaii during different years. The first two certainly seem like summer haiku, with all the blossoms and not a hint of chill in the air.

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​Fallen coconuts
Look like turtles among the
Still waterlilies.

​A white duck feeds near
A plumeria tree, a
Blossom on her back.
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​On Halloween, hard
Rain falls at twilight as the
Toads come hopping out.

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​Whether the days are warm, cool or chilly, October is a time of astonishing creativity, power and change. October is the month of the huge golden moon and the harvest. The earth is colored with red maple leaves, orange pumpkins and golden sheaves of corn, and everyone who loves to bake is ready with recipes old and new to celebrate earth’s bounty.
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​Though humidity may still hover in my kitchen, and the ever-present tropical ants may still lurk, ready to feast on any cookies left unattended on the counter, I cannot stop myself from baking when October arrives. My favorite autumn recipe is a very simple Pumpkin Bread which we feature in the September “Ozark Farm Harvest Tea” menu on this website. This recipe was given to me more than thirty years ago by my sister-in-law Kathleen Higashi Manion, and I still make it every year from the hand written 3x5 card that she gave me so long ago.
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​What makes this Pumpkin Bread special is the inclusion of chopped dates, which keeps the loaves moist. A generous amount of ground cloves adds a wonderful spicy autumn scent, and this recipe makes three plump loaves. I use disposable aluminum pans that are conveniently sold at grocery stores in sets of three in the 8”x 3 7/8”x 2 15/32” size. This wonderful Pumpkin Bread can be frozen, wrapped and mailed, carried along with you on a road trip or offered as a hostess gift. Naturally, it is also a perfect addition to an Autumn Afternoon Tea menu.
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Before you begin your autumn baking, I hope you will review the Tea Book section of this website for the autumn tea party menus we offer. In the “Afternoon Tea and the Four Seasons” section, Kathleen has created a hearty menu for an “Autumn Afternoon Tea” that offers the best flavors of the season. Recipes include Persimmon Bread with Ginger Butter, Apple Butter Bars (one of my favorites,) Pumpkin Cream Tartlets and Cinnamon Icebox Cookies along with scrumptious savory items and cozy warm beverages.
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The October offering in our “A Calendar of Tea Parties” section is a Mexican-inspired tea party in celebration of The Day of the Dead (Dia de Los Muertos,) a joyful festivity in honor of our ancestors. This menu includes lots of savory dishes as well as Pumpkin Empanadas, Tres Leches (three milks) Cake, and the ever popular and versatile Mexican Wedding Cookies.
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​As I mentioned, the Pumpkin Bread recipe I am offering this month comes from our September “Ozark Farm Harvest Tea” menu, which is very dear to me, as it celebrates the autumnal foods of my birthplace. I included a complete Planning Guide with this menu for readers who want to create a good old-fashioned harvest tea party, including the simple but elegant Ozark Pudding, along with Corn Bread, Deviled Eggs and Blackberry Cobbler.
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This year October will be especially exciting for me and Kathleen, as we will be traveling together to Joplin, Missouri, where I, my siblings and many of our ancestors were born, to attend the Murdock, Pickett and Vernatti family reunion. These reunions, masterminded by our family historian, my cousin Margaret Pickett who still lives in Missouri, have been taking place sporadically sincen1982. Our August “North American Family Reunion Tea” mentions the far-flung places where various cousins have taken turns hosting these events over the years. 
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​This year, we will all return to our home town, where our first reunion was held. We will enjoy the lovely autumn colors and cooler temperatures of the Ozarks in October, tour the historic graveyards where our ancestors are buried, and even visit St. Patrick’s Church in nearby Galena, Kansas, my father’s birthplace. This little church, which my great-grandparents helped to build, has a lovely stained-glass window dedicated to my grandmother, Margaret Murphy Murdock and her sister, Rose Anna Murphy Pickett, the grandmothers of my cousins on my father’s side. In addition to catching up with long-lost relatives, Kathleen and I are hoping to find one or two charming little tea rooms in which to indulge our favorite pastime—Afternoon Tea. Kathleen will have her camera ready, and I hope to chronicle this October adventure in a future blog.

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​On my journey, will
There be maples, just turning
From green to bright gold?

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Be sure to use an oversized mixing bowl for this luscious Pumpkin Bread, as this recipe makes a lot of batter. This bread can be served plain, sliced like pound cake for a tea party. Sliced Pumpkin Bread is also delicious buttered and toasted in the oven for a few minutes. Another option is to enjoy this bread while it is still slightly warm with vanilla ice cream. 

Pumpkin Bread

• 2 2/3 cups sugar
• 2/3 cup vegetable oil
• 4 eggs at room temperature
• 1 can (15 ounces) canned pumpkin (not pumpkin pie filling)
• 2/3 cup water
• 3 1/3 cups all-purpose flour
• 2 teaspoons baking soda
• ½ teaspoon baking powder
• 1 ½ salt
• 2 teaspoons ground cinnamon
• 1 teaspoon ground cloves
• 1 cup chopped pitted dates
• 2/3 cup chopped toasted almonds or walnuts
• Cooking spray for the pans

 
Preheat oven to 350° F

Special equipment: foil-lined baking sheet, wooden spoon, extra-large mixing bowl, large mixing bowl, flour sifter or sieve, hand-held electric mixer, rubber spatula, 3 aluminum loaf pan, 8x4x2 ½ inches, wire rack, wooden skewer

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1. In the pre-heated oven on a foil-lined baking sheet, toast the chopped nuts for about 10 minutes, stirring once with a wooden spoon to prevent burning. Remove from the oven and set aside to cool. Spray 3 aluminum loaf pans with cooking spray and set aside.
2. In a large mixing bowl, sift together the flour, baking soda, baking powder, salt and spices and set aside. In an extra-large mixing bowl with an electric mixer, beat the sugar and oil together until fluffy. Add the eggs, one at a time, and beat for about 1 minute after adding each egg.
3. Add the pumpkin and water to the egg mixture and beat until well mixed, scraping down the sides of the bowl with a rubber spatula. Gradually add the flour mixture to the pumpkin mixture, beating on low speed just until combined and no flour is visible in the batter.
4. Fold the toasted nuts and chopped dates into the batter with a rubber spatula until well distributed. Pour the batter into the 3 prepared loaf pans, distributing it evenly and smoothing the tops with the spatula.
5. Bake the loaves for about 1 hour until a wooden skewer inserted into the center comes out clean. Place on a wire rack until completely cooled. Serve immediately, or wrap snugly in plastic wrap, then in foil and store at room temperature for up to three days or freeze.